• HOME
  • Home
  • Contact us
• NEWS
  • News
  • Briefs, Letters to the Editor
  • Police Blotter
  • Archives 2008
  • Archives 2009
• SPORTS
• PHOTO GALLERIES
  • Sports Photos
  • Community Photos
• OBITUARIES
• BUSINESS LISTINGS
  • Business Directory
  • Community Links
• CLASSIFIEDS
  • Classifieds
  • Legal Notices
• CONTACTS
• WEATHER
  • Weather
  • WA DOT Camera's
  • Pass Reports
  • Tide Tables

Pumpkin roll

Doug Ramsay photo

Solomon Taylor, 11, of Kirkland (left) and his brother Jesse, 8, roll two large pumpkins out of the field at The Farm at Swans Trail last week. With five area farms hosting pumpkin patches and corn mazes, the Snohomish River Valley is a destination for people seeking autumn activities. For more on the area farms, visit the Snohomish Chamber of Commerce at cityofsnohomish.com.

Ready, Set, Launch!

Doug Ramsay photo

Trinity Fox, 7, of Monroe squints and takes aim as she prepares to launch a pumpkin into the field at Craven Farm last weekend.

Check Out our online publications

I-1033 would be ‘devastating,’ city officials say

SNOHOMISH COUNTY - Cities across Snohomish County are using one word to describe the effects of ballot Initiative 1033 on their budgets: Devastating.
“We believe it would have a devastating effect,” Mukilteo Mayor Joe Marine said. “It won’t be pretty.”
I-1033 limits revenue growth in a city’s general fund, which includes employee salaries, training, supplies and equipment. If it passes, cities would only be able to increase their revenues by inflation and the change in the population. If general fund revenues exceed the limit, the money would be used to reduce the following year’s property tax.
The initiative would establish the ceiling for revenues at levels from 2009, “the worst year we’ve had in decades,” Snohomish City Manager Larry Bauman said. “The timing is absolutely the worst.”
Everett, Mukilteo, Snohomish and Monroe say they are not accounting for 1033 in future budgets.
“If it passes, all bets are off,” said Scott James, Mukilteo’s finance director. “We’ll do the budget all over.”
Even if the initiative passes, it would likely be appealed, further delaying implementation.
Everett officials calculated if 1033 had begun in 1999, the city would have $7.5 million less this year, drastically limiting their ability to maintain public services during this recession.
If 1033 is adopted this year, Everett will see revenue reduced by $1.4 million by 2015.
“It would really mean a different way of doing business,” said Debra Bryant, Everett’s chief financial officer. “We would have to pare back public services we provide now.”
Anything that was not a priority would have to be cut, Bryant said.
Costs are based primarily on labor, including benefits and insurance, Bauman said. In Snohomish, health insurance rates increase about 10 percent per year, which would immediately “bump into the ceiling 1033 would create.” Bauman said implementing 1033 would likely mean cutting employees on a yearly basis or scaling back benefits.
Snohomish estimates show a revenue loss of between $40,000 and $80,000 if 1033 is implemented in 2010.
Monroe city officials are trying to bring a big-box retailer, such as Wal-Mart or Target, to a site in North Kelsey. If 1033 passes, expanded retail will not mean expanded revenues.
“Hopefully it won’t pass,” Monroe Mayor Donnetta Walser said.
Monroe officials say they’re unsure how the initiative would specifically effect their budget.
“I don’t think anyone quite understands how this could affect the city, but it can have a devastating effect,” Walser said. “City revenues are kind of in flux right now.”
Although 1033 is a statewide initiative, revenues would increase according to national rates of inflation, which are typically lower than Puget Sound-area rates, Bryant said.
The initiative would also eliminate cities’ ability to address unanticipated costs, such as aid after an earthquake or flood.
The Snohomish City Council passed a resolution encouraging voters not to vote for the initiative, and Everett’s council will likely pass a similar resolution this week.
The Everett Area Chamber of Commerce has already come out in opposition to the initiative, citing a concern that the initiative’s property tax reductions could result in new taxes or increases in existing taxes to fill funding gaps. Chamber president Louise Stanton-Masten said 1033 was the “wrong approach” to reducing taxes and fees that hurt the business community.
A recent poll by King5/Survey USA shows 45 percent of voters voting in favor of the initiative, 35 percent voting no and 22 percent undecided.

By LINDSAY TOLER
Published Oct. 14, 2009